the stepping stone · 2013-04-13 · of home improvement fraud; in a tornado rav-aged berkley...
TRANSCRIPT
Merline Anderson;
Executive Director
Georgie Donahue;
Director Program
Administration
Katherine Lucas-
Johnson;
Director Human
Resources &
Public Relations
John Parsons;
Director Process &
Operations (WX)
hiring a contractor, building
permits and typical scams.
Experts were on hand to
discuss; working with your
insurance agent, how to ap-
ply for various forms of as-
sistance and various re-
sources available to storm
victims. The Workshops
were held at Florissant Val-
ley Community College,
Westview Middle School,
Ferguson Municipal Public
Library, Berkley Civic Cen-
ter, Pattonville Sr. High and
Bridgeton Community Cen-
ter.
Sponsors included; St. Louis
Community College, Mis-
souri American Water C.,
Ameren Missouri, Montgom-
ery Bank, Enterprise Leasing,
LHM Corp, Riverview Gar-
dens School District, Univer-
sity of Missouri Extension,
United
Way of Greater St. Louis, St.
Louis Better Business Bu-
reau, The Salvation Army's.
Louis County Dept. of High-
ways & Public Works host
sites and the municipal gov-
ernments in the affected
communities
The Community Action agency
of St. Louis County, the St.
Louis County Executives Of-
fice and the National Center
for the Prevention of Home
Improvement Fraud held a se-
ries of free workshops for tor-
nado survivors
The week of May 2-6 in the
nine municipalities hardest
struck by the Good Friday tor-
nados. Phae Howard from the
National
Center for
the Preven-
tion of
Home Im-
provement
Fraud ad-
dressed the
issues of
During the month of May
CAASTLC acknowledged
Community Action Month .
Wednesday-May 4
All day fundraiser (11 am-
10:00 pm)
Happy Hour: 5-8pm for
CAASTLC Staff & Friends
Fundraiser at Casa Gal-
lardo; hosted by CAASTLC’s
Young Professionals group
Casa Gallarado will donate
25% of food sales from open
to close to CAASTLC.
CAASTLC will use the funds
raised by this event to aide
our St. Louis County
neighbors affected by the
Good Friday Tornado,
(Continued on pg. 2)
FOX Channel 2 Reporter
Bonita Cornute Interviews Phae Howard
from the National Center for Prevention
of Home
Improvement Fraud; in a tornado rav-
aged Berkley residential area.
Community Action Aides Victims of Tornado
May is Community Action Month
The Stepping Stone S P R I N G 2 0 1 1 V O L U M E 9 I S S U E 2
S P E C I A L
P O I N T S O F I N -
T E R E S T :
Community Action
Month Highlights
What CSBG means
to Community Ac-
tion
Employment
Program success
Story
Information on
CAASTLC Drive
Pictured to
the right-
Birdseye
view of
tornado
damaged
home in the
small
Municipality
of Berkley.
P A G E 2
CAASTLC WX Auditor Eartha McMiller holds
sign as she takes the “Walk for Hunger”
“A proclamation
was presented to
CAASTLC by Louis
Aboussie from the
office of 1st
District
Congressman
“Lacy “ Clay.
Pictured to the
right-
May is Community Action Month (continued from page 1)
through the Family development Pro-
gram.
Friday- May 13 Employee Walk for
Hunger—The Walk began at 1:00 pm
after lunch. The staff and clients, and
guests walked from the Community
Center down south Woodson until
they reach the Roots and Shoots Gar-
den. At the Garden where they had a
short rally and in reference to food in-
security and feeding the poor. A proc-
lamation was presented to CAASTLC
by Louise Aboussie from the office of
1st District Con. Lacey Clay. Roots and
Shoots garden founder Jim Schmidtz
gave a presentation on the history of the
Overland community garden.
T H E S T E P P I N G S T O N E
CAASTLC staff, volunteers and guests stand
watching The festivities at the Rally held at Roots
& Shoots Community Garden
Pictured to the right– CASA Gallarado
Fund raiser at Westport-
CAASTLC Associate Director, David
Barnes and CAASTLC IT contractor
Sean Dreste enjoy a pleasant sunny
evening on the CASA patio on the
plaza
An Editorial-What CSBG Means to Community Action by Cedric Jackson
P A G E 3 V O L U M E 9 I S S U E 2
The Community Service
Block Grant program has
been around since 1981,
helping low income families
and individuals struggling
with day-to-day necessities.
Its purpose has always been
to help stem the tide of pov-
erty, and where possible,
help to empower a growing
class of citizens perpetually
in need. Through funds pro-
vided by the Community
Service Block Grant, Com-
munity Action Agency of St.
Louis County offers pro-
grams for low –income re-
cipients such as counseling
for individuals as well as
families.
Without funding for
Community Service Block
Grant, unfortunately, people
who are economically disad-
vantaged would have no-
where else to turn when
dealing with debilitating is-
sues such as anger manage-
ment, drugs and alcohol,
along with many other of
life’s constant challenges.
They certainly cannot afford
to pay professional hourly
fees, or to check themselves
into expensive treatment pro-
grams. Community Action
Agency of St. Louis County
utilizes the Community Service
Block Grant to help bridge the
gap between those individuals
who are challenged economi-
cally and the help that many of
them need in order to live sus-
tainable lives.
And yet the scope of Com-
munity Service Block Grant ex-
tends far beyond just counseling
in terms of how it touches lives
in the community. Unlike many
in the middle and upper class,
who may have the means to re-
spond to a financial emergency
by tapping into savings or other
financial reserves, low wage
individuals do not have the
same luxury. The reality is, that
old expression of ―living pay-
check to paycheck,‖ for those
fortunate enough to even have a
job, adequately describe how
the economically disadvantaged
live their daily lives. So when a
single paycheck or any portion
of that single paycheck is
missed, or cannot be stretched
far enough, those individuals
often have to rely on the kind of
emergency services, be it the
Food Pantry, Back-to-School
Fair, or the Winter Wonderland
Program, as provided by Com-
munity Action Agency of St
Louis County.
Without assistance from the
Community Service Block Grant
many low-income communities
would be devastated and caught up
in poverty for generations to come.
Imagine Community Action
Agency of St Louis County having
to turn people away seeking en-
ergy assistance to prevent their
utilities from being disconnected,
or individuals seeking to have their
homes weatherized to help lower
their energy costs, or those in need
of any number of other vital pro-
grams, all denied because there is
no place like CAASTLC to offer
them help. Just because you turn
people away does not mean their
unfortunate circumstances go away
as well. Think of it in this manner,
if the flow of critical resources at
one end of the social fabric were to
stop, the ripple effects will only
move further along and eventually
fray and tear at some point down
the road, usually at a much greater
cost.
Perhaps it should be noted:
Should we misunderstand the hu-
man will to survive, and somehow
become convinced those in need
will simply tiptoe quietly away and
disappear once the arms of human-
ity are firmly folded, we greatly
delude ourselves.
P A G E 4
“She was also referred
to the Home and
Water Repair Program
which was able to fix
her tub faucet so she
could have hot and
cold water again.”
CAASTLC Brings a Helping Hand to LeMay by Madeline Buthod
Sherry T. of Florissant
first heard about
CAASTLC when she
called the United Way’s
referral service, 2-1-1, last
fall because she was
needing help with her gas
bill. Sherry is a disabled,
single mother struggling
to stretch her social secu-
rity check in enough ways
to make ends meet.
Through the United Way,
Ms. Sherry also learned
about the Weatherization
Program offered. When
she came to the office to
apply she was also en-
rolled for the 100 Needi-
est Program for help at
Christmas time, and re-
ceived groceries from the
food pantry. She was also
referred to the Home and
Water Repair Program
which was able to fix her
tub faucet so she could
have hot and cold water
again. Because of her
small disability check,
Ms. Sherry would not
have been able to pay her
bill and make the home
improvements her house
needed.
Mary G. lives with her
elderly father in South
County. They had been
without heat in their home
2 years before they were
told about the County
Older Residents Program
(CORP). When CORP
found out about their bro-
ken furnace, they imme-
diately contacted
CAASTLC’s weatheri-
zation program for as-
sistance. The Weatheri-
zation Program was not
only able to install a
brand new Furnace for
Ms. Mary and her fa-
ther, it was also able to
repair large holes in the
ceiling where they were
losing lots of energy.
They also were able to
benefit from the LI-
HEAP program and re-
ceived a credit on their
gas bill to help during
the cold winter months.
Shirley B. of Lemay
first heard about the
Community Action
Agency through some
friends who had had
their homes weatherized
and also through Lemay
Housing Partnership
(LHP). She was able to
get substantial repairs
done to her home
through the two organi-
zations. Ms. Shirley is
also a founding partici-
pant in the Lemay Com-
munity Garden. She had
asked her condo com-
plex for years to have a
garden but was rou-
tinely turned away. So
when she heard that
CAASTLC and LHP
were starting a garden
near her home, naturally
she was thrilled. The
garden got off to a start
last August, and Ms.
Shirley was able to grow
beans, spinach and lettuce.
She is going to a garden-
ing meeting next week to
prepare for the upcoming
growing season.
Mohammad of Ballwin
does his best to care for
his wife and 5 children,
one of which is severely
disabled. When money is
tight he goes to
CAASTLC for assistance.
Over the last couple of
years, he has had his home
weatherized, gotten gas
and water bills paid, re-
ceived school supplies,
and has attended several
energy conservation
classes. Mohammad has a
lot of weight on his shoul-
ders and CAASTLC is
happy to take some of the
load off.
CAASTLC helps families
like the ones mentioned
above on a daily basis. For
many families suffering
through the current eco-
nomic crisis CAASTLC is
the saving grace, without
assistance from
CAASTLC it could mean
coping through freezing
winters with no heat and
putting children to bed
hungry.
T H E S T E P P I N G S T O N E
GOOD PEOPLE
Despite Adversity Client’s Integrity Shines Through
P A G E 5 V O L U M E 9 I S S U E 2
By James T. Ingram
Conservative commenta-
tors (and even some past
Presidents) have depicted
and characterized those in-
need, unemployed and un-
deremployed as unworthy
of empathy, success and
that, left to their own de-
vices, they would even
resort to criminal means as
their first recourse in fur-
thering themselves.
However, for anyone
working within Commu-
nity Action Agencies, that
misperception quickly dis-
sipates in the daily interac-
tion and provision of ser-
vice to those who, simply,
need an opportunity to ele-
vate themselves and their
circumstances.
One recent Employment
Readiness client very
poignantly underscored
that point with her honesty
and integrity, despite being
faced with a choice be-
tween morality and oppor-
tunism.
Rachel Kozma was return-
ing, from lunch, to her
Employment Readiness
class at CAASTLC only to
stumble upon a wallet con-
taining credit cards, cash
and the potential for Ra-
chel to make a quick
profit.
Conservative social pun-
dits would have bet that
Rachel would have made
off with her ill-gotten
gains and never returned.
They would have lost that
bet for Rachel returned the
wallet, which happened to
belong to a very grateful
CAASTLC employee.
It speaks to the character
and integrity of Rachel
who, despite being an ex-
offender and single
mother, completed a de-
gree in Business Admini-
stration and gained experi-
ence in office administra-
tion.
After recently losing her
job, Rachel could have
easily chalked it up to be-
ing another bad break and
seen the lost wallet as
some dumb ―stroke of
luck‖.
Not Rachel. ―I know how
it feels to have things
taken. It’s hard enough out
here‖, she said.
It’s called having honesty,
integrity and character;
things which are best
tested when no one else is
around to see us do the
right thing.
That’s what Rachel exem-
plified on that day and it is
typical of those who walk
through the doors of Com-
munity Action Agencies
on any given day; people
whose lives have dealt
them a challenging hand,
yet they maintain their dig-
nity until they are provided
with an opportunity to
achieve economic security
and opportunity
CASSTLC Employment Program living success
story, Rachel Kozma
EMPLOYMENT READINESS WORKSHOPS
HELD BI-MONTHLY The Competitive Edge Workshop can help YOU master the following topics: • Successful job search techniques • Acing the online application • Attention grabbing resumes • Champion interview techniques • Keys to promotions and raises
Tues 9-5, Wed 1-4, Thu 1-5 (Attendance is mandatory for each
session)
After completion of the 3-day pro-gram, job-seekers will
receive to one-on-one assistance in locating job leads. Bus tickets avail-
able.
Class sizes are limited! To register please call 314-446-4431 or
314-863-0015 Ext. 720
2709 Woodson Rd.
Overland, MO. 63114
Phone: (314) 863-0015
Fax: (314) 862-1252
Website:www.caastlc.org
.
CAASTLC FOOD DRIVE TO BENEFIT PEOPLE IN NEED
DUE TO DISASTER
AND OTHER ECONOMIC STABILITY ISSUES
Please donate non-perishable items such as:
Cereal, pasta, can goods, condiments, powdered milk, boxed
& bottled juice, granola bars, baking mix, diapers, wipes,
toothpaste, soap, toilet tissue & pet food.
Call: (314) 446-4440 for more information
Financial donations to “ CAASTLC Food Drive” will be accepted
CAASTLC
2709 Woodson Rd.
Overland, MO. 63114